Happy Birthday Sadie!

I can hardly believe that my little puppy Sadie is turning 4 today! It seems like only yesterday Jared was bringing her home from the breeder and she was so tiny. Sadie is a German Shorthair Pointer, a breed used specifically for bird hunting. She was the first dog that Jared and I got together; I even came up with the name Sadie. Technically Jared bought her, but since we were already dating at the time I immediately claimed partial ownership :)

On Easter weekend in 2007, Jared and my brother, Chris, made the journey to Gainesville, Georgia to pick up Sadie. They didn't want to spend the night in North Georgia so they left Tallahassee in the middle of the night, and drove all the way there just in time to make it to the breeder's house by 8am. They picked up Sadie, turned right around and drove her down to my parents' house in Jacksonville.

She was so precious and tiny! My brother also has a German Shorthair (pictured below) and Sadie looked so small compared to his dog, Bailey. Four years later, Sadie is definitely bigger than Bailey.

I was so excited for Sadie to arrive! She was quite the snuggler right from the beginning and she still is; however, she currently weighs over 50 pounds but still thinks that she only weighs 10 pounds.

Then she started to grow and that brought the energy! Most dogs have lots of energy as a puppy and then they start to mellow out and calm down as they get older...apparently we picked the wrong breed for that. German Shorthairs are high energy dogs by nature and it never goes away. Sadie acts as crazy and energetic today as the day we brought her home.

In the fall of 2007, Sadie was introduced to quail hunting. She caught on quickly and she followed Bailey's lead very well. Sadie LOVES to hunt. When Sadie sees Jared starting to get together the hunting gear on a Saturday morning, she goes bonkers. On the average hunting trip, she spends about 4 hours running non-stop at her top speed and when the hunt is over she isn't tired, she wants more.

Going hunting just to see Sadie in action is totally worth the trip. Without these dogs, quail hunting would be next to impossible. Obviously there is some training involved, but these dogs really just go on natural instinct when it comes to finding the birds and pointing. It's what they were born to do :)

Sadie is a wonderful dog, but she has had her fair share of spankings. Even when she gets sick in her kennel, chews up my hair straightener (only as a puppy), or steals Jared's sandwich off the kitchen counter, we still love her.

Happy 4th Birthday Sadie!